AVGO Broadcom Inc

   By Valentina Pop 
 

BRUSSELS--U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Inc. settled an antitrust dispute with the European Union, a year after EU officials revived a seldom-used power ordering the company to stop allegedly anticompetitive contract terms with its customers.

The European Commission, the bloc's top antitrust watchdog, on Wednesday said it accepted Broadcom's legally binding commitments to refrain from any exclusivity arrangements for chips used in television set-top boxes and internet modems.

"Existing chipset makers competing with Broadcom and potential new entrants will be able to compete on the merits," said European Commission Executive Vice-President in charge of competition, Margrethe Vestager.

Broadcom didn't immediately comment on the decision.

In October, Ms. Vestager revived so-called interim measures, an injunction that hadn't been used since 2001, to order Broadcom to suspend the contested agreements while she was still investigating the case.

She has since pledged to make more use of this power as she investigates other companies for alleged antitrust violations, including Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc.

Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2020 06:36 ET (10:36 GMT)

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